The Red Wings enjoyed a little downtime Tuesday, the upside to having two days between games. They’ll be back at work today, preparing for Game 4 against archrival Chicago.

The Wings lead, 2-1, in the second-round series, not bad considering the Blackhawks aren’t just the top seed in the Western Conference — they finished with the best overall record in the regular season and topped many pre-playoff predictions to make the Stanley Cup Finals.

Two straight victories — Saturday at Chicago and Monday at Joe Louis Arena — have left the Wings with the upper hand and halfway through to the Western Conference finals. Not that the Wings — even as young as they have suddenly become — are getting ahead of themselves; Jonathan Ericsson sounded the echo of the Perfect Human in explaining how the Wings felt after winning, 3-1, in Game 3.

“Pleased, but not satisfied,” he said. “Halfway through a series is also halfway not there. We don’t want to get too high or too low, that’s what Nicklas Lidstrom always used to say. That’s what we can’t do. We just have to stay the course.”

Let’s look back at that course and see what happened.

What’s the story line so far? The Wings lost the opening game in Chicago, and while no one wants to use all those time-zone hops back and forth between Detroit and Anaheim as an excuse, it is an explanation. No one could fly that route four times in one week and feel fresh, even with a private airplane. Fortunately there were two days before Game 2, so the Wings got a lot of rest, everyone felt better and voilŕ, Detroit won, 4-1, even though so many in attendance at the United Center kept yelling at the Wings that they’re muck. Or something that rhymes with that.

What happened in Game 3? See, this was the night the Blackhawks were supposed to be the responders, the way the Wings were the responders in Game 2. They did try. Jimmy Howard just wouldn’t relent. He made 15 saves in the first period Monday, and then in the second period, the Wings got goals from their third and fourth lines. Then that Pavel Datsyuk guy mopped up in the third period, scoring an insurance goal after Patrick Kane had made it 2-1.

Why were the Wings mad Monday night? They felt Niklas Hjalmarsson (pronounced JAL-mersen) should have gotten a penalty for committing an act of Swede-on-Swede violence when he knocked Johan Franzen into the boards. Franzen, who can be described as many things but not small, was down on the ice for several minutes. In fact, he missed Kane rushing away in the other direction and scoring a goal. Hjalmarsson didn’t get a penalty. Wings coach Mike Babcock said it should have been boarding. The NHL looks at every play under the sun without request from teams, but Hjalmarsson isn’t getting a retroactive penalty to start Thursday’s Game 4. But possibly the officials got a little talking-to.

Why were the Blackhawks mad Monday night? They felt Viktor Stalberg’s goal should have counted. Stalberg put the puck in Detroit’s net shortly after Kane’s goal, which would have made it 2-2 with 14 minutes left. But official Brad Watson said no, no, no, because Andrew Shaw was in the crease. Shaw was in the blue paint, but the Blackhawks noted vociferously he wasn’t making contact with Howard, so they felt it was an unjust call.

What’s going on with these Wings? They keep finding ways to win. It was one thing to do it against the Ducks — many in hockey picked that as a first-round upset. But the Wings did it even after losing defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who Babcock didn’t stop talking about in the month DeKeyser played before suffering a broken right thumb.

If the Norris Trophy was handed out based on best one-month performance in the NHL, DeKeyser would no doubt have been a finalist. Anyway, the Wings dispatched the Ducks, closing them out on the road. And now they’re hammering away at the Blackhawks.

OK, the series is only three games old. But it was impressive to see the Wings win Game 3, because the Blackhawks very clearly were determined to bounce back from their poor showing Saturday.

Where can this playoff run end? It’s intriguing to wonder. There is zero pressure on the Wings — about as much pressure as there is on a baby to do more than eat and sleep. It evaporated after this “Work in Progress” team progressed into the playoffs, ensuring the 21-season streak grew to 22. That was a “mission accomplished” banner moment. Then they went ahead and upset the second-seeded Ducks. Bonus.